PRAYER PRAISE LITTLE POLITICS

LOS ANGELES - NOVEMBER 14: Quarterback Andrew Luck #12 of the Stanford Cardinal throws a pass against the USC Trojans on November 14, 2009 at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) less

LOS ANGELES - NOVEMBER 14: Quarterback Andrew Luck #12 of the Stanford Cardinal throws a pass against the USC Trojans on November 14, 2009 at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by ... more

Photo: Stephen Dunn, Staff

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LOS ANGELES - NOVEMBER 14: Quarterback Andrew Luck #12 of the Stanford Cardinal throws a pass against the USC Trojans on November 14, 2009 at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) less

LOS ANGELES - NOVEMBER 14: Quarterback Andrew Luck #12 of the Stanford Cardinal throws a pass against the USC Trojans on November 14, 2009 at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by ... more

Photo: Stephen Dunn, Staff

PRAYER PRAISE LITTLE POLITICS

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At the close of Gov. Rick Perry's clamorous and controversial day of prayer Saturday, Reliant Stadium still stood, the governor was still that and nothing more, and some 30,000 Christian believers departed The Response feeling blessed after a day of singing, praying, praising and - for some - fasting. (Long lines besieged concession stands throughout the day.)

Attendance far exceeded the 8,000 who had registered online, with bus loads making the pilgrimage from churches around the state. Nearly 7,000 seats on the floor were occupied and hundreds more people stood in a mosh pit of sorts in front of the stage. The 71,000-seat stadium had been divided in half, but by mid-morning organizers had to open the upper decks. Tens of thousands around the country also watched a live streaming of the event.

Perry, in a red tie and dark suit, took the stage at about 11 a.m. without fanfare - he was introduced on giant TV screens as "Rick Perry, Austin, Texas" - and was greeted with a brief standing ovation. The nation's longest-serving governor noted that this "loving and personal God desires not a show of religion but a deep connection with our innermost being. … His agenda is not a political agenda. His agenda is a salvation agenda."

God, he said, is wise enough not to be affiliated with any political party.

Perry read three passages of Scripture: from Joel 2, Isaiah 40 ("They'll soar on wings like eagles"), and Ephesians 3. He closed his morning remarks with a prayer.

"Father, our heart breaks for America," Perry prayed. "We see discord at home, we see fear in the marketplace, we see anger in the halls of government. And as a nation, we have forgotten who made us, who protects us, who blesses us. And for that we cry out for your forgiveness."

Perry also prayed for President Barack Obama, "that you would impart your wisdom upon him, that you would guard his family."

'We've needed this'

Event organizers had insisted that The Response was nonpolitical, and participants echoed that sentiment.

"We came because we wanted to pray for our country - and definitely for rain," said David Walden, a retired locksmith and jeweler from San Antonio who was wearing a ring on every finger. "I'm glad the governor called a day of prayer, but this is not the day for any political speeches or anything like that."

Walden, who had ridden to Houston on one of several buses organized by Cornerstone Church, televangelist John Hagee's mega-church in San Antonio, said he wasn't sure who he favored for president.

Carol Flaherty, an attorney's assistant who lives in Kaufman, said she felt blessed by the event.

"I'm happy for a governor who had the heart to do this," she said. "We've needed this for a long time. Today's definitely not the day to be talking about politics, but, me personally, I'd vote for him."

Despite the disclaimers, a gaggle of national media followed Perry Saturday, anticipating a forthcoming presidential announcement. If so, The Response was an early foray into the national spotlight. No other Republican candidate, declared or otherwise, has held a larger event.

The Response, conceived and initiated by the governor, also was one of the most explicit appeals to conservative Christians that GOP presidential hopefuls have made in the fledgling 2012 campaign.

That appeal establishes Perry's evangelical bona fides in the hearts and minds of a group of people who make up more than half of the voters in some of the GOP primaries.

Despite the warm greeting Perry received inside Reliant Stadium, not everyone was pleased. Barry Deason was among a group of protesters lining Kirby Drive who chanted and waved signs in opposition to what they considered an unconstitutional mixing of church and state.

"I am happy to let people know it's not OK for a government official to hold a religious meeting to try to solve our problems," said Deason, an atheist. "Logic and problem-solving is the only way to go with this - not by prayer."

"Governor Perry achieved his goal today," Lynn said. "He drove almost every major religious right leader and group into his corral. If he decides to run for president, the Perry brand will be everywhere he wants it to be."

Both Perry's remarks and the preachers' rhetoric throughout the day were relatively low-key and apolitical. Except for abortion, they hardly mentioned any of the so-called "wedge issues" that are often a prominent part of their usual Sunday sermons and public pronouncements.

"Heal the financial crisis in this nation," said Mike Bickel of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, one of the more controversial figures on the program. "Heal the families in this nation, Jesus Lord. Forgive us for abortions."

Spiritual experience

Except for the participation of prominent pastors and politicians - including Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who read the Beatitudes - the seven-hour event resembled nothing more than a boisterous Sunday-morning worship service at evangelical churches across the nation. The prayers were long and heartfelt, the remarks earnest, and the music - gospel and Christian rock - inspired rapturous frenzies of arm-waving, swaying and singing along.

Eric Bearse, a spokesman for The Response and one of its organizers, said he was pleased.

"I think the important thing is that people have a spiritual encounter, and that's why they're here," he said, shortly after Perry spoke. "I think they were appreciative that the governor was here and that he called it, but the people I've talked to, they're not here about anything related to politics. They're here for a spiritual experience."